The Delaware ledger. (Newark, Del.) 1879-19??, 1887-10-22

! ssssa noaiss-sssvtAs nxpend.
ssiostress sEoaeTh nstSsasaxs
8Ns New vosA pubilssssrA RAJ to-
Au'assinsA ana Rfiatlne
ho Wdm snah quoer-looling old gentleman
that the writer paused in his walk to examine
him more closely. He was standing in the
doorway Of ono of those dimly lighted book
stores which limo Nassau street, between Full
ton and Ann, eagerly scanning the pages Of a
hoary volume through his old-fashioned gold
spectaclcs His wide-awake straw hat had
drifted back to the apex of his crown, and
had anchored itself permanently among the
struggling strands of snowy hair which
caressed the frayed collar of his alpaca coat
| His white waistcoat was unbuttoned, and the
ends of tho black silk handkerchief which
served him in lieu of a necktie bristled de
family.
II have just made an astounding discovery,
cir, remarked the old gentleman. "Have the
kindness to look at this book and tell me what
you think of it,"
1t was one of a set of four volumes of the
works OF Pliny the Younger, published in
Strasboug in 1870. The type was good and
the book was in fair condition. The binding
was utiA AouA tlAi9 VI onccIJchAh
hung from the corners, in order that the
reader might tie the volume up securely when
he was done with IL. Thousands of just such.
books may be seen any day exposed for sale
on the quays at Paris They are the OUT
scourings of the early French and German
printing houses, and can be purchased for a
few francs The writer did not see anything
extraordinary about the book, and he said so
frankly.
BESIDE THE LETTER PRESS
Then the old gentleman chuckled. "rhere
Is something In a book beside the letter press,
the printers name and the date he said.
"See heren and with that he gingerly lifted
up the edge of the velum binding and ex-
posed the fragments of two or three sentences
inscribed upon 1t in black letter, with here
and there an illuminated capital rich in ara
besque and gliding
THAT" declared the old gentleman, with
an air of triumph, after surveying the grabbed
scrawl critically for a few moments, "was
originally q missal Transcribed with laborous
care by some Twelfth century monk in the
! seclusion of the scriptorium of a medieval
cloister. The old fellow probably took four
or five years to complete it.
! ~ tell you there was some chance of man
! writing book TINT was fit to read when he
knew beforehand that it would tnkc four or
: five months to complete overy single copy
4 that was exposed for sale.
4 There have been great changes in the pub
: fishing business since l gave it up,n he re-
4 married with quaver in his voice, changes
! to my mind, for the better. One of my chief
o objections to printing used to be that it did
v away with ell that was beautiful in books
i What can compare in beauty with the Tenth
q century missnli The gospels inscribed In sill
" yer and gold letters on purple velluin; every
: capital flower garden, and the very margin
n glorious with parti-colored figures Of men
n birds, beasts and fishes. Still, this objection
of mine is slowly melting away. You see, il
my day the books VIC printed never had any
a illustrations to speak Of. A few wood cuts
& perhaps, and more rarely a steel line engrav
q ing, and that was all
d CHANCE IN BooKMAKIN0.
% The old gentleman was right; thirty year.
!. has wrought marvellous change in book
"a making. rhotogravure and the wonderful
m Ives process, by which fac-simile plato 4
70 produced directly from the object, have com,
&c to the publishers aid Etching has taken th,
A. place Of the old steel line engraving to a Ger
20 tain extent, and probably there ore not one
n tenth rs many steel engravings produced an
~ nualy now as there were ten years ago. Onl,
40 last year an art critic wrote that the peopl
who prefer line engravings to etchings ar
no Inc same people VINO prefer white narbl
m mantels and horsehair furniture to carve
,e oak and velvet plush. Fifty processes exis
IL to-day where there were but one or two be
m fore, and if their development equals thei
g promise the book of the future will indeed
X q marvellous production.
h One would naturally suppose that the il
l. creased facilities afforded by these multitud
nj nous processes would minimize the cost. :
&C preparing book for the market 9us. ~, % :,
ne not tho case. Each publisher ~, ~. ~ ~,
~ competitors in making the ,. -, ,,ial,
- he is Tor the moment = ''i" upon winch
'e ,,os,ilJa W., engaged as elaborate as
M .,,t, ,',,,., lieie formerly few simple wood
Of ,a,s, = Jeemed all that were necessary he
M - presents the reader With half dozen
letchings or engravings, and thus ne IS called
upon to expend an almost incre,lblr sun be.
fore any return is obtained George L. Put
nam, the father OF the present publisher, is.
sued an artists edition Of Washington Irving's
: "Sketch Book in 1867 1t contained 132 illus
" trations all wood cuts, and Mr.. Putnam paid
> cut S25, 900 before he got back one cent In
- those days this was considered a fabulous tun
:. to invest in one work, and the number Of en-
cravings contained within the covers Of the
Z, sketch book We're the wonder and admiration
% OF the other bookmakeis
The labor OF preparing these volumes foi
publication extended over two entire years
1t was begun in the latier pant of 1854, and
the first copies were not issued from the pres.
until 1857, This work pales into miigniti
canoe before the lrincoly fortunes invested
: each year in new books by the publishers Of
to-day New York Star